Efficient episode encoding for spatial navigation

A method for familiarity mediated encoding of episodic memories for their inferential use in spatial navigation task is proposed. The method is strongly inspired by the state-of-the-art understanding of the hippocampal functioning and especially its role in novelty detection and episodic memory formation in relation to spatial context. The model is constructed on the presumption that episodic memory formation has behavioral, as well as sensory and perceptual correlates. In addition, the findings regarding hippocampal involvement in the novelty/familiarity detection and episodic memory formation, together with the existence of a straightforward parallel between internal hippocampal and abstract spatial representations are incorporated in the model. A navigation task is used to provide an experimental setup for behavioral testing with a rat-like agent. For this purpose, a framework that connects robot navigation and episodic memory representation is suggested. The computations are adapted for a real-time application. Simulation results show encoding of episodes and their use for navigation.